Pope Benjamin I of Alexandria

Coptic Pope Benjamin I (590-16 January 662) was Coptic Pope from 623 to 662, succeeding Coptic Pope Andronicus and preceding Coptic Pope Agathon.

Biography
Benjamin was born in 590 CE in present-day Barshut, Beheira Governorate, Egypt, and he came from a Christian family of comfortable means. His brother Mennas was tortured with fire and drowned by Patriarch Cyrus of Alexandria, the Monothelite Byzantine patriarch for refusing to accept the Chalcedonian version of Christianity. In 620, Benjamin took his monastic vows, and in 623 he became the new Coptic Pope. When the Arabs invaded Egypt, Benjamin met with the Muslim general Amr ibn al-As, who said that Benjamin was the most impressive man that he ever met. In exchange for paying higher jizya, Benjamin was accepted as the rightful representative of the Egyptians, and the Muslims restored rights to the Copts that the Byzantines had taken from them. Benjamin prayed for Amr in return, and he guided the Copts during Muslim rule. He died in 662.